Mobile communication and computing devices such as cellular phones, smart phones, computer laptops and tablets etc., are becoming essential personal accessories, oftentimes rarely out of sight of the user. Desktop computers, gaming consoles, wearable devices such as “Smart” watches and Google Glass® already have or eventually will have audio and video recording capabilities, as well as a wide variety of RF transmit/receive capabilities for communication. The advent of the “Internet of Things” (or the “Internet of Everything”), in which most every day devices, from thermostats and appliances to food packages, clothing, medical devices and automobiles (to name a few) have or will have audio, video and RF capabilities is also upon us. Moreover, all of the previously mentioned devices have or someday will potentially include other sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, and proximity, temperature, light, pressure, and other sensors. Ongoing improvements in RF transceiver technology and advancements in the miniaturization of audio-visual capabilities and other devices such as microphones, video cameras and displays provide the user with unparalleled ability to receive, process, and transmit large volumes of data. Devices can record audio and visual information from their environment, process the data either locally or remotely (e.g., “cloud” storage and/or processing) for audio and video transfer directly to a user, or to virtually anywhere in the world capable of receiving a wireless and/or internet service.
Increasing publicity regarding surveillance and the steady rise in the capability of mobile communication and other devices has precipitated an increased awareness of privacy/security concerns associated with such device use. Currently, mobile communication and computing devices do not incorporate so-called “intelligent awareness” to automatically alter their audio-video and transceiver behavior based on a user's environment or requirements, let alone alter behavior to their wishes (such as a user's desire to turn off any of their device's specific capabilities). For example, cellular phones do not know when a user is in a movie theater to automatically turn-off or convert to a quiet-alert mode, and are not easily switched to a secure mode to prevent unwanted reception of RF signals or acquisition of audio visual information from their immediate environment. Furthermore, improvements in wireless network infrastructure enabling location through triangulation, proximity, and ubiquitous use of GPS technology within mobile devices have allowed accurate device location detection, potentially allowing the dissemination of confidential user information.
In general, device manufacturers and network providers (cellular, internet, private or public networks WiFi and other such networks) rarely, if ever, allow users to totally control reception and transmission of RF or a device's audio-video capabilities. Even with the control that is possible, hackers, malware and other malicious people or code can hijack these functions. Conventional cases or peripheral devices which add features or capabilities or provide protection, aesthetic or other value or do not provide users with full control of their devices' capabilities